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Baja California: Renewable Energy in Natural Areas

By César García Valderrama

President of the California Native Plant Society Baja California Chapter

Photographs courtesy of Martha Pineda

The CNPS Baja California Chapter shares the biodiversity of the California Floristic Province and the Sonoran Desert that ignores national boundaries. We also share common problems—including habitat loss, urban sprawl, and climate change. Recent proposals for renewable energy projects in Baja California exemplify how these issues are presenting new challenges on both sides of the border.

Renewable energy farms have been placed in natural ecosystems across the world. While positive results have been realized for energy production, environmental conditions and biodiversity have concurrently declined. A few years ago in Baja California a wind farm was developed by Sempra Energy, one of the world’s largest energy companies. The farm currently maintains 40 wind turbines but plans are in the works to build over 1000 more. This growth will impact over 7000 acres of mountain habitat. The project is named Energia Sierra Juarez after the Sierra Juarez Mountains—one of Baja California’s most endearing environments. The region is home to stands of chaparral, oak woodland and some of the last coniferous forests in the state.

The wind farm has been built on private or communal (ejido) land, providing economic benefits for the landowners but compromising the health of natural areas that benefit the whole region. Powerlines are essential for energy transport but can start fires—as has happened in California. Road building for the infrastructure of the power plant will degrade habitat health by vectoring nonnative species into the area while also increasing the risk of fires. Lastly, wind turbines are dangerous to large migratory birds, including the USA’s and Mexico’s national symbols, the Bald and Golden Eagle respectively.

Area under discussion.

A flawed environmental impact report prompted several environmental groups, led by our sister organization Terra Peninsular, to sue the Mexican government. The suit failed, it is speculated, due to the amount of money involved in the project and its benefits to the local economy in Baja California. This was a disheartening outcome. Sierra Juarez is not only valuable habitat but also offers important ecosystem services to the region, including being the headwaters of watersheds that feed Tijuana and Ensenada, as well as purveying a significant area for carbon sequestration. Adding to the insult, most of this energy will go directly to United States consumers across the border. It is inconceivable that Mexico will assume most of the environmental risks, while a foreign company will reap all of the benefits.

Not all the news is bad. A proposal for a new solar farm and a toxic dump containment site in a desert area with rich vegetation has recently been postponed. Close to Mexicali, a city with some of the worst air quality in the West, a network of environmental activists and academics discovered flaws with the EIR and sent it back to the drawing board. This has halted the project for now.

As a small environmental community in northwestern Baja California with limited resources, we have few options to properly assess these projects. We need allies across the border to provide access to the legal tools needed to protect the environment and quality of life throughout the entire California Floristic Province and beyond.